1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a granulated body having a relatively-small liquid component content such as moist powder.
2. Description of Related Art
For forming a thin layer on a solid body, a coating process is used. In the coating process, a solid body is coated with a fluid substance (paste or slurry) obtained by kneading powder, which is a raw material for the thin layer, with a liquid. Subsequently, a drying process is performed to remove the liquid, whereby a layer of an aggregate of the powder is formed on the solid body. The processes such as above are used in, for example, manufacture of an electrode plate for a secondary battery.
Because of large burden in the drying process here, in recent years, attempts have been made to use moist powder with a reduced ratio of the liquid in the fluid substance. As a method for obtaining such moist powder with a reduced liquid ratio, the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-216575 can be employed. In the technique in JP 10-216575 A, a slurry including a solid cake and a solvent is sprayed to remove the solvent and obtain granulated powder. The granulated powder obtained as stated above has a small liquid component content, and thus, can be considered as moist powder such as mentioned above.